Under My Patch

Chapter 5:

"Good morning. I'm looking for a woman named Elara Sterling."

The man in the doorway is forty-something. Gray suit. Rain on his shoulders. A leather folder in his hand and a smile that's been practiced in front of a mirror.

Denny's already between him and the room. Dutch has come back through the door behind him and is standing at his shoulder. Callum's boots are on the porch boards, just out of sight.

Kael doesn't move from behind the counter.

"Bar's closed."

"I'm not here for a drink." The man steps forward. Denny doesn't move. "I'm here on behalf of Marcus Sterling. I believe his wife is in this establishment."

"Believe whatever you want."

"I have a photograph." The man opens the folder and slides a piece of paper across the counter. "This is Elara Sterling. She was reported missing from her residence in the Heights at approximately two o'clock this morning. The report describes her as confused, possibly endangered, and in need of medical attention."

Kael doesn't look at the photograph.

"Take it back."

"I'm sorry?"

"Take the photograph back. I don't want it on my counter."

The man's smile doesn't move.

"Mr. Vance—"

"You know my name."

"Everybody knows your name." The man tips his head. "I'm Gordon Dunmore. I represent the Sterling family."

---

Kael sets his coffee down.

"Gordon Dunmore. You're the one who handles the messy ones."

"I handle legal matters."

"You handle the ones the family doesn't want their name on." Kael comes around the counter, slow, and Dunmore takes a step back without meaning to. "You were the lawyer on the Ferris property dispute in 2019. The one where the family that lived there for sixty years got a letter from a judge saying their deed was invalid."

Dunmore's smile doesn't move but something behind it does.

"That was a legitimate legal proceeding."

"That was a forged survey and a bought judge." Kael stops about four feet away. "And the Ferris family is still living in a motel in Ashford."

"Mr. Vance—"

"You're not getting her."

The room goes quiet.

Dunmore looks at me.

Then he looks back at Kael.

"Mr. Vance, I'd like to remind you that we're not talking about property. We're talking about a human being. A woman who was reported missing by her husband last night. And as of nine o'clock this morning, there is a state trooper assigned to the case." He tips his head. "You're not obstructing a lawyer. You're obstructing a police investigation."

"Where's the trooper?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Where's the trooper. If there's a state trooper assigned to this case, why'd they send you?" Kael's voice is flat. "Because a trooper would need a warrant to come in here. And a warrant needs probable cause. And probable cause needs something more than a husband saying his wife's confused."

Dunmore's jaw tightens.

"The trooper is on his way."

"Then I'll wait for him." Kael turns around. "Denny. Get the door."

---

Denny opens the door.

Dunmore doesn't move.

"Mr. Vance. I'd strongly advise you to think about what happens next. If you obstruct this investigation, the state will come down on this town with everything it's got. Every license. Every permit. Every inspection. You'll be shut down inside a month."

Kael stops.

He turns around.

"You think I haven't heard that before?"

"I think you haven't heard it from the Sterling family."

"I've been hearing it from the Sterling family for sixteen years." Kael walks back toward him. "Every time I turn down an offer on that ridge, I get a letter. Every time I get a letter, I get a phone call. Every time I get a phone call, I get a visit from a man in a suit."

He stops in front of Dunmore.

"You're the fourth one. The first three were politer."

Dunmore's face doesn't change.

"Then you know how this works."

"I know how it works." Kael tips his head. "The family sends a man in a suit. The man in the suit makes a threat. The threat gets escalated. And then one day the family gets what it wants and the man in the suit goes home and has a drink."

"That's an uncharitable description."

"It's the accurate one."

Dunmore's quiet for a moment.

Then he looks past Kael and straight at me.

"Mrs. Sterling," he says. "Your husband wants you to come home. He's not angry. He's worried. He's prepared to forget everything that happened last night and start fresh."

I don't say anything.

"He's asked me to tell you that he loves you. And that whatever you think happened, he's willing to talk about it."

I look at him.

"Did he tell you what he did to my ribs?"

Dunmore's smile doesn't move.

"Mrs. Sterling—"

"Did he tell you he cracked them in the kitchen last month? Did he tell you he put four fingers on my throat and squeezed until I couldn't breathe?"

Dunmore's quiet.

"I don't have any information about that."

"Of course you don't." I stand up. "Because he doesn't tell you what he does. He just tells you what he wants. And then you go out and get it for him."

---

Kael steps between us.

"You heard her," he says. "Now get out."

Dunmore straightens his jacket.

"Mr. Vance. I'm going to leave because you're bigger than me and there are four of your men in this room. But I want you to understand something before I go."

"I'm listening."

"Marcus Sterling is on his way to Blackpine right now. He left the Heights at six this morning. He's in a black Mercedes with two men in the front seat and a lawyer in the back." Dunmore picks up his folder. "He'll be here by nightfall. And when he gets here, he's going to walk into this bar and he's going to ask for his wife. And you can stand in front of him with your patch and your men and your shotgun. And it's not going to matter."

"Why not?"

"Because he's not bringing lawyers." Dunmore walks to the door. "He's bringing the state police. He's bringing a warrant. And he's bringing a judge who's been on the Sterling payroll since 2009."

He stops at the threshold.

"Think about that," he says. "You've got until tonight."

And then he's gone.

---

The door shuts.

Kael doesn't move for a long moment. Then he turns around.

"Denny. Call Dutch. Tell him I want every man in this town by noon. Not the club. Every man. Every patch. Every prospect. Everybody who's ever ridden with us."

"Prez."

"Callum. Get on the phone with the Ashford chapter. Tell them I need bodies. Tell them I'll owe them."

"Prez."

"Jax. Call the sheriff. Tell him I need to know what's coming through his county line."

The room empties.

And then it's just Kael and me and the sound of the rain on the window.

---

My hands are shaking.

I don't notice it until Kael looks at them. Then I look down and I can't stop it.

"Elara."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine." He walks over. "Sit down."

"I don't want to sit down."

"Then stand there and shake." He crouches down in front of me. "But I need you to look at me."

I look at him.

"Your feet."

"What?"

"Your feet." He points at the floor. "You've been walking on gravel and asphalt and the floor of this bar for eight hours. And you haven't looked at them once."

I look down.

They're bad.

The cuts from the gravel are red and swollen and there's a piece of something dark stuck in the heel of my right foot that I don't remember stepping on.

"Sit down," he says.

I sit down.

---

He goes to the back room and comes back with a red plastic first aid kit and a bottle of something clear and a clean towel.

Then he kneels down in front of me.

"This is going to hurt."

"Everything hurts."

"Yeah." He uncaps the bottle. "But this is going to hurt more."

He pours it on the towel and dabs it on the cuts.

It stings so bad my eyes water.

"Breathe."

"I'm breathing."

"Breathe through your mouth."

I breathe through my mouth.

He works his way across the bottom of my foot, slow and careful, picking the gravel out with a pair of tweezers and wiping the cuts clean.

"You done this before?" I ask.

"Done what?"

"Cleaned up somebody's feet."

He doesn't look up.

"Once."

"Who?"

He's quiet for a moment.

"My brother."

I don't say anything.

"He got himself into something he couldn't get out of. Bad people. Bad deal. He came to me the night before he died and he was cut up from head to toe. And I cleaned him up and I told him to handle it himself." Kael's jaw works. "He was dead three days later."

The bar's very quiet.

"Kael—"

"Don't." He wraps the towel around my foot and holds it there. "I'm not telling you that for sympathy. I'm telling you because I need you to understand something."

"What?"

"I'm not going to do it again." He looks up at me. "I'm not going to tell somebody to handle it themselves. Not ever again."

I look at him.

"Okay," I say.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

He finishes wrapping my feet.

Then he stands up.

"You're under my patch now," he says. "And I need you to understand what that means."

"I thought it meant—"

"It means every man in this town answers to me. It means when Marcus Sterling comes through that door tonight, he doesn't come through it alone." He tips his head. "It means you don't have to be strong. Not today. Not tonight. Not ever again."

I look up at him.

"I don't know how to stop being strong."

"I know." He crouches down again. "That's why you've got me."

---

The phone rings.

We both look at it.

It rings again.

Kael stands up.

"Stay there," he says. "Keep your feet up."

"Kael—"

"Stay there."

He walks to the bar and picks up the phone and puts it to his ear.

"Vipers."

He listens.

And his jaw works.

"Yeah," he says. "She's here."

Chapter 5 Ends.